As I always say to any arsehole who’ll bloody listen “abusive language and swearing are a legacy of slavery, humiliation, and disrespect for human dignity—one’s own and that of other people.” Friggin’ Trotsky wrote that.
The headline on the front page of the current issue of The Weekly Weekly is aiming for the shock factor. “Vote preference one for Abbott … and fuck warmongering ex-ministers”. We can assume that they are not advising carnal relations with the Milibands and co but are rather inviting that large section of the Labour Party membership which takes its political guidance from the paper to avoid casting a second preference. It could decide the result.
Diane Abbott must be thrilled to have support and a political line expressed so pithily and it may turn out to be one of the classic front pages of 21st century socialism. Yet for a paper that makes a feature out of long, dense, sophisticated articles requiring a fair level of knowledge of both Marxism and the British left it is a peculiar departure. It might make sense on a leaflet for youth or on the cover of Class War but in this context it’s just bizarre. The target audience is mainstream Labour and union opinion, one assumes. In my experience they are like most other people who might express an idea one way in a pub and use a different register when making a political point or coming up with a front cover.
As an object lesson in making your views utterly marginal this takes some beating.
Liam redux 
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